Constructions: An Experimental Approach to Intensely Local Architectures

The current trend for constructing experimental structures is now an international phenomenon. It has been taken up worldwide by design professionals, researchers, educators and students alike. There exist, however, distinct and significant tendencies within this development that require further investigation. This issue of AD takes on this task by examining one of the most promising trajectories in this area, the rise of intensely local architectures. In his seminal essay of 1983, Kenneth Frampton redefined Critical Regionalism by calling for an intensely local approach to architectural design. Today, Frampton’s legacy is regaining relevance for a specific body of work in practice and education focused on the construction of experimental structures. Could this ultimately provide the seeds for a compelling and alternative approach to sustainable design?

The current trend for constructing experimental structures is now an international phenomenon. It has been taken up worldwide by design professionals, researchers, educators and students alike. This issue of AD examines one of the most promising trajectories in this area, the rise of intensely local architectures.

Practical Poetics in Architecture, written by leading thinking and educator Leon van Schaik, takes poetics out of the theory class and into the design studio, showing architects how the atmospheric and experiential qualities of built structures can be intentionally considered and planned.

Eric Parry, one of the UK's most highly regarded architects — whose work has been widely lauded for its innovative response to its setting — addresses the contemporary definition of context and its importance for sustainable everyday living and urban design.

Around the world, a new phenomenon is emerging. In public places, Pavilions, Pop-ups and Parasols are being constructed that encourage interactions between people. The catalyst for this new trend has been the changing social relationships initiated by social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This has enabled innovative architectural practices to effectively reinvent the nexus between real and virtual meeting.

Today, the ambition to provide humanitarian architecture for areas in acute need –whether afflicted by disease, poverty, conflict or ecological disaster – is driving design innovation worldwide. Ground Rules seeks to provide parameters for engagement at a time that these international initiatives remain largely ad hoc. This anthology establishes foundations for thinking about design and its role in the development for global change.

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